How about a rematch? Seahawks win them, usually

Seattle’s earth-shattering stunner over New Orleans on Saturday wasn’t just a candidate for the most improbable playoff upset in NFL history.

It was also the third time this season that the Seahawks have won a rematch against a team they played earlier in the year, and the second time this season that they’ve beaten a team they’d already lost to.

They’ll get another crack at improving that record on Sunday, when they travel to Chicago to face the Bears – whom the Seahawks beat, 23-20, in Week 6 – in a divisional playoff game.

And it’s not the mere fact that the Seahawks managed to get the better of their division opponents the second time around – that stands to reason for a playoff team – but the importance of the most recent two rematch victories that makes this attention-grabbing.

The Rams handled Seattle – 20-3, in St. Louis – in their first meeting, only to watch the Seahawks take a 16-6 win at Qwest in the rematch to win the NFC West title.

And the Saints game, obviously, is the most resounding of the three rematch wins, the Seahawks falling 34-19 at New Orleans in Week 11 before winning a 41-36 shootout in Saturday’s wild-card playoff game.

So, is there any way to account for Seattle’s usually improved play when facing a team the second time around, especially recently?

“Oh, OK. Good,” Carroll said. “I don’t know. I can’t help you on that, other than the fact of what I’d like to think. What I’d like to think is that when we go through the experience we grow from it, we understand it, we can adapt and anticipate the things we need to do to adjust properly. But that’s kind of just wishful thinking. I don’t have anything more for you on that.”

But if you find that you’re again trying to convince yourself the Seahawks have a chance this week – an easier task than the first round – you’ll be glad to know that Seattle, even if there’s no real explanation for why, has typically shown considerable improvement when playing rematches.

The Seahawks won do-overs against NFC West foes Arizona and St. Louis, and lost only to San Francisco, 40-21, the second time around. Interestingly enough, the first tilt between the Seahawks and 49ers was Seattle’s most lopsided victory of the season, a 31-6 win at Qwest.

Each of their other three rematches, though, saw either a different outcome – a win instead of a loss – or an increased margin of victory from an earlier win.

They beat Arizona by 12 in their fist meeting, then won by 18 on the road. Then there’s the past two weeks, both positive changes in outcome from earlier losses.

A big part of the Seahawks’ improved play against the Rams and Saints the past two weeks was homefield advantage, of course. But what could help the Seahawks on Sunday against the Bears – who are 2-1 in rematches this year, for what it’s worth – is the familiarity of going through the routine of winning at Soldier Field already this season.

The Seahawks’ Oct. 16 win at Chicago may have been the high point of the regular season. Not only did it give them their first road win of the year, but the defense sacked Bears quarterback Jay Cutler six times, Matt Hasselbeck completed 25 of 40 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown, and the win marked the team’s most well-rounded effort of the season.

Carroll said there could be something to be gained from the team’s earlier trip back east. But not enough to put much thought into it.

“That’s not a battle cry or anything,” Carroll said. “That doesn’t mean anything. We just know where we’re going, we know what it feels like, we know where we’re going to practice the day before the game, and we’ll know the sights and sounds of that stadium. So there’s a little familiarity that I think helps. That’s experience, and that’s it.”

The Bears – the only playoff team Seattle beat in the regular season (corrected, 9:23 a.m.) – are playing much better than they were then, and they played without linebacker Lance Briggs in the first match-up.

Briggs won’t miss this week, and his presence could make this rematch especially interesting.

“For us to sit back and say, ‘Oh, hey, we beat them at their place, we can do it again,’ that would be a dangerous way to feel, because Lance Briggs did not play in that game,” Hasselbeck said. “He is a big, big time difference maker and a great football player. So as hard as this game is going to be, the fact that he’s back up takes it to a whole another level.”